Artwork / high school and college / Patern Kervinio

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One of the administrators at my university really wanted to buy this painting when I showed it on campus soon after finishing it. The offer flattered me, but it also made me uncomfortable. I couldn’t imagine selling my grandfather’s face. It was in that moment that I realized I needed to start painting people I wasn’t related to if I ever wanted to make a living as an artist.

The very next year, this new understanding influenced me as I searched for a topic for my senior project. I ended up creating portraits of the professors of the art and art history department. In a funny bit of symmetry, the same administrator bought most of those works for the school’s collection.